The News-Sentinel sports staff will feature a different verbally committed player for the four NCAA Division I football programs (Ball State, Indiana Notre Dame and Purdue) in Indiana leading up to National Signing Day on Feb. 5.

Here is today's Notre Dame featured commit:

JIMMY BYRNE

Position: Offensive guard

High School: St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio

Height: 6-foot-4

Weight: 295 pounds

Commitment date: December 12, 2012

Other scholarship offers: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State and West Virginia.

Ranking: Rated a four-star prospect by Rivals.com, the No. 19 player in the state of Ohio and the No. 31 offensive tackle in the country; rated a four-star prospect by Scout.com and the No. 12 offensive guard in the country.

Scouting report: Byrne is one piece of another stellar recruiting class along the offensive line for Notre Dame, a haul that currently includes four players that are four-star players and above according to Rivals.com. While predominantly a tackle in high school at prestigious St. Ignatius, Byrne projects long term as a guard with the Fighting Irish. The last few recruiting cycles have seen an up tick in quantity and quality gets, with Notre Dame having a deep enough depth chart to preserve a year of eligibility with its offensive linemen unless they are truly elite, such as Steve Elmer this past season. Expect a year in the weight and conditioning program to get Byrne in fine shape for his first game action in 2015.